Buffalo Sabres and NHL: 2019/20: Sabres season officially over. Draft lottery June 26th

[K-9]

Duffer said Eichel’s streak is over. It’s just not right that Eichel’s streak ends in a game he can’t play due to injury.

32 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

Hutton looks awful. What is up with his positioning?! He’s way overplaying everything it seems. 

 

Whole team looks awful though. Nobody stepping up in Eichel’s absence. 

Never seen a goalie so out of position so often. Hutton has got to go.

[Kevbeau]

4 hours ago, billsfanmiami(oh) said:

I’m getting the bourbon ready...

 

 

Yep, that’s enough for me.

I followed your advice...didn’t watch after the first. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Nice effort against the ONLY team I care about the sabres beating. Straight trash.

[plenzmd1]

3 thoughts form tweets I saw this morning. 

 

1) guess this was strongest argument one could have for Jack MVP

 

2) jacks injury was a bad back from carrying 4000 lbs of players in his back

 

3) a question of when the new “  Beyond  the Blue and Gold—- Hutton vs The Puck “ would debut. 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by plenzmd1

[JohnC]

Darren Dreger was on the Instigator Show for a 15 minute segment. The biggest revelation is that his sources told him Jack didn't play because he was ill. He talked about some players who were subject to be traded, not relating them to any Buffalo deals. Dreger pointed out that the supply for defensemen on the  market is flooded.  At the end of the segment he talked about how Tampa's coach, Cooper, sat out Nikita Kucherove to send a message to the player and the team. 

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-20-tsns-darren-dreger-with-the-instigators

[bbb]

7 hours ago, JohnC said:

Darren Dreger was on the Instigator Show for a 15 minute segment. The biggest revelation is that his sources told him Jack didn't play because he was ill. He talked about some players who were subject to be traded, not relating them to any Buffalo deals. Dreger pointed out that the supply for defensemen on the  market is flooded.  At the end of the segment he talked about how Tampa's coach, Cooper, sat out Nikita Kucherove to send a message to the player and the team. 

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-20-tsns-darren-dreger-with-the-instigators

 

Harrington had said in a tweet during the game that Eichel had been ill, but if that was it - they would have said illness and not upper body injury...............But, with the NHL who the eff knows!  

[JohnC]

11 hours ago, bbb said:

 

Harrington had said in a tweet during the game that Eichel had been ill, but if that was it - they would have said illness and not upper body injury...............But, with the NHL who the eff knows!  

When the teams are reporting their vague injuries the truth is not only elusive but it is also very malleable. If both Harrington and Dreger are saying that their sources are indicating the health issue is related to an illness then I'll lean toward that explanation.  

[4merper4mer]

On December 20, 2019 at 7:33 AM, plenzmd1 said:

3 thoughts form tweets I saw this morning. 

 

1) guess this was strongest argument one could have for Jack MVP

 

2) jacks injury was a bad back from carrying 4000 lbs of players in his back

 

3) a question of when the new “  Beyond  the Blue and Gold—- Hutton vs The Puck “ would debut. 

 

 

4) Without Eichel it's the Botstanic

[JohnC]

 It was good to see Jack back on the ice. 

 

Ullmark would earn my first star. When you have good goaltending you are in every game. 

 

I thought Scandella and Risto played well. Risto is not going anywhere. He's Krueger's anchor defenseman. At the end of close games he is going to be garnering a lot of ice time. 

 

The Kings play a tough bottleneck type of game that doesn't give you much room to work. The Sabres didn't get impatient and played with the same tight style of play. 

 

One of the best sequences in this game for the Sabres was when they were on the power play at the end of the game and they were blistering the Kings' goalie with shots. That was abruptly ended when Reinhart retaliated on a play where a penalty should have been called on the Kings. That was not the right time to respond. 

 

The entertainment value in this type of game isn't great but a win in a win. I'll gladly take it. 

 

[JohnC]

The attached link is a condensed version of the game taken from NHL.com. 

https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/lak-vs-buf/2019/12/21/2019020552#game=2019020552,game_state=final

 

The below link is the standings taken from NHL.com. 

https://www.nhl.com/standings/2019/conference

 

The below link has Krueger's post game comments. On that same WGR page there are post game comments from some players. 

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-21-ralph-kreuger-postgame

 

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by JohnC

[JohnC]

The attached link is a Bill Hoppe article from Buffalo Hockey Beat focusing on Johansson and his disappointing play. This link was taken from the hockey side of TBD. Needless to say this team needs players like him and Skinner to augment the big Jack line. 

http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-marcus-johansson-says-he-hasnt-felt-like-himself-all-season/?view=getnewpost

[BillsFan4]

 

Doesn't seem like he’s off to a very good start look at the stat lines, but I haven’t seen him play in Rochester yet so I really can’t say for sure. 

[JohnC]

44 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

Doesn't seem like he’s off to a very good start look at the stat lines, but I haven’t seen him play in Rochester yet so I really can’t say for sure. 

He needs to be forgotten about and allowed to just play a lot. If he develops it will be on his own individual developmental schedule. Listening to people who cover the Sabres what is noticeable to them is that he is not relaxed, he is playing too tight. Will he be ready to get back to the NHL this season, or the next season or the year after? Who knows? Ultimately his play will determine his status. There are no guarantees that he will eventually be a credible NHL caliber player just like there are no guarantees for nearly every prospect except for the exceptionally elite ones. 

 

In hindsight what is apparent is that Casey was rushed into the league before he was ready. That was an organizational mistake, and not his. The ROR trade deal has had repercussions. One of them was the rushing of Casey into a role that he was not ready to bear. Hopefully he doesn't turn out to be permanently damaged goods.  

Edited December 22, 2019 by JohnC

[JohnC]

The attached link is a BN's column by Mike Harrington. He makes the case that the GM needs to make deals after the holidays to upgrade the scoring potential. I do see some marginal deals being made but nothing of significance. The problem is that the players that would be offered would not bring back much in return. Our primary asset that has value on the market is Risto. Because he is playing so well and has become our anchor defenseman I don't see him being moved. Next year the organization will have plenty of cap space to make deals. My guess is that our GM has a longer horizon than this year and is not willing to make an impact deal where he has to give up significant assets that will hurt the near future. Just maybe our cautious GM will act more boldly than expected? 

 

https://buffalonews.com/2019/12/21/buffalo-sabres-nhl-jason-botterill-linus-ullmark-2/

[plenzmd1]

20 hours ago, JohnC said:

He needs to be forgotten about and allowed to just play a lot. If he develops it will be on his own individual developmental schedule. Listening to people who cover the Sabres what is noticeable to them is that he is not relaxed, he is playing too tight. Will he be ready to get back to the NHL this season, or the next season or the year after? Who knows? Ultimately his play will determine his status. There are no guarantees that he will eventually be a credible NHL caliber player just like there are no guarantees for nearly every prospect except for the exceptionally elite ones. 

 

In hindsight what is apparent is that Casey was rushed into the league before he was ready. That was an organizational mistake, and not his. The ROR trade deal has had repercussions. One of them was the rushing of Casey into a role that he was not ready to bear. Hopefully he doesn't turn out to be permanently damaged goods.  

I disagree this was all based on the ROR deal. I said it at the time it happened, they were dumb as stumps to burn the first year of his ELC in that first putrid season with Housley at the helm.It all goes back to Housely being the worst coach in the history of the NHL, now he has ruined Mitts, cost us ROR, lord knows what other damage that dude has done to the team.?

 

Seriously, burning that first year for what..12 games or something? That is awful GMing

 

 

 

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, plenzmd1 said:

I disagree this was all based on the ROR deal. I said it at the time it happened, they were dumb as stumps to burn the first year of his ELC in that first putrid season with Housley at the helm.It all goes back to Housely being the worst coach in the history of the NHL, now he has ruined Mitts, cost us ROR, lord knows what other damage that dude has done to the team.?

 

Seriously, burning that first year for what..12 games or something? That is awful GMing

 

 

 

The ROR deal was a factor in rushing Mitts to the NHL. That's not to say that it was totally the reason that he was rushed. In hindsight, Mitts should have been in the minors learning his craft and earning his way into the NHL. GMs make a lot of decisions. Not everyone works out. The handling of Mitts was not wisely done. Hopefully it won't permanently damage him. But to be fair whether Casey is wisely handled or not doesn't mean that he as a prospect will become a full fledged NHL caliber of player. Some prospects that you believe will become good players don't make it, and some that you don't believe will make it do so. Except for the very elite prospects there are no guarantees

 

You still are chasing the Housley bogeyman. When your hemorrhoids are on fire do you blame him? 

 

 

[plenzmd1]

3 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The ROR deal was a factor in rushing Mitts to the NHL. That's not to say that it was totally the reason that he was rushed. In hindsight, Mitts should have been in the minors learning his craft and earning his way into the NHL. GMs make a lot of decisions. Not everyone works out. The handling of Mitts was not wisely done. Hopefully it won't permanently damage him. But to be fair whether Casey is wisely handled or not doesn't mean that he as a prospect will become a full fledged NHL caliber of player. Some prospects that you believe will become good players don't make it, and some that you don't believe will make it do so. Except for the very elite prospects there are no guarantees

 

You still are chasing the Housley bogeyman. When your hemorrhoids are on fire do you blame him? 

 

 

well, Casey was allowed to burn his first year of the ELC for 12 games(appx) cause the Sabres were in dead last and desperate. ROR needed to get traded cause the Sabres were in dead last and he wanted out. So both "mistakes" were caused with the Sabres being in dead last on a team that did not have dead last talent. So yep, both of those are on Housley..( and Botts for caving to Mitts and and his agent)

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

well, Casey was allowed to burn his first year of the ELC for 12 games(appx) cause the Sabres were in dead last and desperate. ROR needed to get traded cause the Sabres were in dead last and he wanted out. So both "mistakes" were caused with the Sabres being in dead last on a team that did not have dead last talent. So yep, both of those are on Housley..( and Botts for caving to Mitts and and his agent)

When you drive do you look at your rear mirror instead of looking through your front windshield? If so, I'm sure your insurance rates are sky high! 

 

Organizations make mistakes. That's the nature of the business. Not all decisions are going to work even in the best run organizations. Overall, I think our GM has done a good job. He's not into the quick fix mode of acting that you seem to favor. That's fool's gold. I really believe that the GM has put us in a good position for next year because of the smart way he has managed contracts. You sneer when I say that the Sabres are in an upward trajectory. It may not be quick enough for you but I believe it is the right course to take. 

[K-9]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

When you drive do you look at your rear mirror instead of looking through your front windshield? If so, I'm sure your insurance rates are sky high! 

 

Organizations make mistakes. That's the nature of the business. Not all decisions are going to work even in the best run organizations. Overall, I think our GM has done a good job. He's not into the quick fix mode of acting that you seem to favor. That's fool's gold. I really believe that the GM has put us in a good position for next year because of the smart way he has managed contracts. You sneer when I say that the Sabres are in an upward trajectory. It may not be quick enough for you but I believe it is the right course to take. 

The frustration lies in going 8 years with no playoffs and then being told we have to be patient. I know JBotts and Co. have nothing to do with the mistakes of Darcy Regier and Tim Murray before he arrived, but it’s a tough sell to the most loyal fan base in the league. 

[Jrb1979]

58 minutes ago, K-9 said:

The frustration lies in going 8 years with no playoffs and then being told we have to be patient. I know JBotts and Co. have nothing to do with the mistakes of Darcy Regier and Tim Murray before he arrived, but it’s a tough sell to the most loyal fan base in the league. 

They are fighting for a playoff spot so far this season. Its an improvement over last season. There isn't much available trade wise to help this team. It would have been nice to have Hall but not for the price Arizona paid to get him.